On the second of May we have the chance to vote in the Bristol City Council elections. On this occasion, a lack of publicity will undoubtedly ensure that student participation is negligible at best. Last month we were asked to choose our local police commissioner, and the month before that, our mayor. Unsurprisingly, turnout for [...]

March 22nd, 2013 Read more

Chris Huhne’s fall from grace has, unquestionably, made for compulsive reading. The disgraced former cabinet minister was last week sentenced to eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice, after he admitted asking his then-wife Vicky Pryce to take his speeding points to avoid losing his driving licence in 2003. The national press, [...]

March 18th, 2013 Read more

We are all familiar with the pictures. A girl wearing her best dress and highest heels, slumped by a bin, vomiting away the three hours it took her to get ready. A group of boys, desperately trying to aim punches at each other with as much accuracy as a two toed sloth painting its toenails. [...]

March 18th, 2013 Read more

Cameron’s support for George Osborne amidst the choking of the economy may prove to be a decision he lives to regret. The downgrade of the UK’s credit rating was an inevitable disappointment, yet Mr. Osborne’s reluctance to accept the failure of his restoration tactics leaves an air of doubt whether the coalition’s master plan to repair [...]

March 18th, 2013 Read more

Reports recently emerged that film star Ashton Kutcher was hospitalized as a direct result of his adoption of one of Steve Jobs’ notorious fruitarian diets. Kutcher undertook the stringent dietary regime – which limits intake to only fruits, nuts and seeds – in preparation for his role as the title character in new biopic ‘jOBS’, [...]

March 18th, 2013 Read more

As an Arts student, you might assume my obvious and self-motivated answer to whether tuition fees should vary across subject, to reflect the actual cost of the degree, would be a resounding ‘yes’. The arguments in favour of the statement are clear: why should I pay the same for my paltry six hours a week [...]

March 18th, 2013 Read more

This is an issue that I have discussed on various occasions with friends, family and fellow students, and one that creates strong divides between us here at Bristol. As an English student, I cannot help but feel that I am not getting my money’s worth, particularly in comparison to say a Medic or a Chemistry [...]

March 18th, 2013 Read more

This week the streets around campus have been lit up by those running to be full-time officers in this year’s student elections. Free sweets were flung into eager hands; almost amusing costumes were donned as our future reps gaily threw caution to the wind; the monotonous dross of glossy flyers advertising lacklustre night-clubs was replaced [...]

March 9th, 2013 Read more

Legend has it that Pope John XXIII was once asked what depressed him most about being pontiff. ‘It is going to sleep every night in the bed you know you will die in,’ he answered. For pope Benedict XVI, having been elected at the age of 76 and with his health already failing him, it [...]

March 4th, 2013 Read more

Is it time to ban online pornography? No, says Dean Meredith. When I received the go-ahead to write this piece, I realised that I would have to tread with caution. I mean, what approach to take? Humour? Yeah, that could work; all that…errr … ‘research’ I did. No, far too crass. How about a serious [...]

March 4th, 2013 Read more